Air cleaner



Jam M9 1936 R. E. DE BOLT AIR CLEANER Filed April 3, 1935 ;za 1,* ,BY

' W TTORNEY Patentecl Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide a new and improved type ofair cleaner that is especially designed and adapted for use on motordriven Vehicles employing gasoline engines.

One object is to provide the air cleaner with means for increasing ordecreasing the Velocity of the air in its passage toward and abreast ofa cleaning liquid, such means serving to control the air Velocity inaccordance with the suction of the engine and being adjustable for thatpurpose.

A further feature resides in an air cleaning device wherein the incomingair flows in an annular stream toward and against the cleaning liquidand thence radially inwardly and finally centrally upwardly, whereby thesurface portions of the liquid are caused to move radially inwadly andthe sub-surface portions radially outwardly to thereby sustain anendless circulating movement and constantly bring new or differentportions of the liquid into contact with the incoming air.

A further feature consists in such an arrangement whereby the incomingair will not be choked when the car is ascending or descending hills oris tilted laterally from a horizontal position.

The invention has many other features and objects which will be morefully described in connection With the accomp-anying drawing and whichwill be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawingc- Fig. 1 is a Vertical sectional view of an air cleanerembodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a .fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a spider frame detaohed from the remainder ofthe device.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout thedifierent figures of the drawing.

As shown, my improved air cleaner includes what I will term a housing orhousing member that is shown in the form of a cup or receptacle and thesame is shown provided with an upper cylindrical lwall portion II aconverging air controlling portion 2 and a bottom wall portion 3. TheWall portions and 2 are annular and the housing is open at the top. Thebottom portion 3, is adapted to contain an air Cleaning medium such as aliquid having a designated level at 4.

Reference will next be made to a novel supporting means for the housingmember.

A spider or frame is shown detaohed in Fig. 4, and includes an outerring 5 to which a bracket ii may be attached or formed integraltherewith, whereby the device may be supported by attachment to anyavailable part of the automobile, indicated at 1. Connecting arms 8,unite ring 5 with an inner ring 9, and these rings may be cast integral,as shown, of such semi-resilient material as aluminum, for instance. Theinner ring 9, is split at diametrically opposite points and providedwith outwardly projecting lugs IO, through which bolts H pass andfunction to contract the inner ring for a purpose to be presentlydescribed. The outer ring 5, is provided with oppositely disposed andreversely opening lugs IZ, as one part of a means for detachablyconnecting the housing, which I will generally indicate at A, to itssupporting frame, which I will generally indicate at B.

Threaded hanger bolts |3, as shown in Fig. 3, have their lower' ends 14welded or otherwise sutably secured to the exterior' of housing A, andare adapted to extend upwardly through openings formed by lugs i and theperiphery of ring 5. Washers i5, and nuts io, coact with said lugs 12 tohold the upper edge il of the housing within the outer ring 5, andagainst arms 8, in a rigid and efiective manner.l In order to removehousing A, it is merely necessary to loosen nuts Hi, and shift saidhousing in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 2, whereby the housingmay readily be detaohed from its supporting frame.

The importance of this construction may be appreciated when it isrealized that this detachable means permits the housing A to be detaohedfrom its frame B, without Adsturbing any other part of the air Cleaner.Hence', it is a very simple matter to change the air Cleaning liquid andalso to observe the resulting action of the device evefwhen a change ofthe liquid is not necessary.

Reference will next be made to a Cartridge shell member which coactswith the housing member in the treatment and control of the air to becleaned.

The cartridge member, which will be generally indicated at C, is formedof a cylindrical pipe or shell body E8, which may be of thin steel orother suitable material and which, as shown, inwardly telescopes thehousing A, for a portion of the length of the latter. The shell i8, isopen at both ends and the operative lower end edge |9, together with thelower peripheral portion 20, which extends abreast of the convergingwall portion 2, coacts with the latter to perform thel function ofcontrolling the Velocity at which the air enters the shell |8.

The interior of shell |8 forms a conduit through which the partly andfully cleaned air ascends to the carbureter of the engine, and in orderto force the air toward the central portion of the conduit and preVent asurplus ascending in other portions, and to defiect some of the oil orother cleaning liquid, I provide a novel means next to be described.

This combined deflector and bafiie as shown, consists of an internalfiange 2|, secured at 22, to the inner portion of shell |8 andprojecting radially inwardly so' that its inner and down- Ward edge 23,and the remaining depth of the fiange, will overhang the outer portionof the conduit. A practically dead air space or trap will be formed at Xthat will force the incoming air to pass inwardly beneath edge 23,before it can ascend in the conduit. F'urther, both faces of said flange2|, afford an effective oil drainage area.

It will now be clear that shell C, forms with housing A, an annularpassage through which incoming dirty air may descend between arms 8,downwardly toward the Cleaning liquid 4, and thence upwardly in theconduit formed by the shell C.

Reference will next be made to an important feature of the inventionwhereby the shell C may be mounted and also held in various adjustedpositions in housing A, to increase or decrease the Velocity of theincoming air.

The inner ring 9, not only functions as a shell member centering ringsor device, but by reason of the clamping device formed by the lugs |0and the bolts it also functions to frictionally grip the shell C so thatthe latter can be readily adjusted to any Vertical and relativelongitudinal relationship with respect to the housing A. Now because theshell C, has one cross sectional form or contour, namely cylindrical,and by reason of the fact that the lower or co-nverging portion 2, ofhousing A, has another cross sectional form 01' contour, it will now beclear that relative adeighth of an inch, and the metalof which saidframe is formed, will of course yield. that much between adjacent arms8.

It will be understood that the liquid 4, in the housing A, is theprimary air cleaner because it functions tol remove from the air all thelarger and heavier particles, and I will next describe what I shall termthe secondary air treating means.

Upper and lower screens 2| and 25, respectively, are suitably secured tothe interior of shell C, in the position shown, and in a manner to forma cartridge shell across the conduit. The cartridge is completed by afiller of suitable material such as braided copper indicated at 26,through which the air must pass, in its ascent up- Wardly through theconduit.

Reference will next be made to the manner in whichV the egress end 21,of shell member C, is connected in a manner to discharge the cleanedair` to the carbureter of the engine.

A ring cap 28 is telescoped over the exterior of shell C and the samehas a top 29 that overhangs said shell and said top is provided with anopening 30. One or more anchoring bolts 3|, may be provided, one onlybeing shown, having its lower end 32, secured to the interior of shellC. The upper end of bolt 3| projects through cap 29 and a nut 33 mayserve to hold the cap snugly onto the end 21, of said shell, and in amanner easily to be removed therefrom. An 'elbow of an egress pipe 34,may be suitably secured to cap 29, and provided with a flexibleconnection 35 leading to the carbureter. Thus, with this flexibleconnection, the shell C, may be adjusted without disturbing the pipedconnection with the carbureter.

It will of course be understood that the ingress I openings between arms8, which I will generally indicate at D, may be covered by any suitablescreen which it is not necessary to show in full, or on someinstallations, these ingress openings may be uncovered, as for instancewhen the installation is made inside of a car or the cab of a truck.Further, such addition, in view of the present disclosure, Would be wellwithin the skill of a mechanic.

While the operation of my air Cleaner may be clear from the foregoing, Iwill briefiy recapitulate the same as follows:-

In the initial installation, the adjustment of the cartridge shell willbe altered to meet the action of the engine' until a satisfactory andefficient adjustment has been established and then the adjustment Willremain permanent, as will be clear to those skilled in automobileoperation.

This adjustment consists in shifting the' shell C into just the rightVertical relation With respect to the housing A to obtain the proper airVelocity. It is possible to elevate shell C until the lower edge |9 ison a level or above the bottom Z, oi' the cylindrical wall portion l, inwhich event the air Velocity will be normal or just equal to thecapacity of the annular air passage, or in other Words, reduced to aminimum. The more shell C is lowered, the greater will be the airVe-locity.

With the adjustment shown, the air will 'be induced to flow downwardlyin the annular passage between the housing and shell members A and C,respectively, and there will be a constriction of a gradually increasingextent as the air passes the bracketed portion 20, and the maximum willbe reached when the air has descended to the lower edge |9. This maximumwillV be sustained by the horizontal restriction between'the edge |9 andthe level of the liquid 4, except for the fact that such horizontalrestriction will'be elastic and Variable by reason of the fact that thedownward rush of air will cause the radially outer portions of theliquid to'valley and the radially inward or central portion to "hill asshown by dotted line Y, when the engine is running at a normal or highspeed. At a slow speed, such as When idling, the liquid may besubstantially level.

If'the air'turns about edge'l9 'too' sharply, it

will'be bafiled by fiange 2|, or rather trappedby the annular body ofair in X, and will be forced to ascend interiorly of the edge 23, ofsaid flainge. Practically all the air ascending in the conduit formed byshell C, will carry some oil;'and as it is desirable to free the airfrom oil after the air has been freed from'impurities, and `before itenters the carbureter, Iwill next explain the feature of my secondaryCleaner.

- As the oil impregnated air 'strikes screen 25,

some of the oil will be dashed'ofl, andas the air enters and filtersthrough the mass of copper or like material 26, and emerges from theupper screen 24, it will be practically free from oil before it reachesthe carbureter. Thus, not only at the time that the air strikes screen25, but all the time it is passing through the Cartridge, it will beforced to take a circuitous path 'of travel that will most effectivelyfree the air from oil globules, and the greater portion of the latterwill be arrested by screen 25, and drip down into the oil body 4. Inpractice, I have found that the whole interior of shell C, below thecartridge, will be filmed with draining oil.

The great advantage of introducing the incoming air in an annular streamshould now be clear not only as regardsthe more effective control ofVelocity, but also because adequate and non-variable entrance into theshell C is always afforded irrespective of the deviation of the car froma horizontal position, and this feature is rendered even more effectiveby the fact that the oil body can valley in a manner to make thehorizontal constriction flexible When the car is in any inclinedposition.

It will also be clear that after adjustment of the shell C has beenmade, there are no movable parts to rattle or get out of order, and thehousing A can readily be removed without dismantling the device, inorder to change or inspect the condition of the oil. q

It is believed the invention Will be fully understood from the foregoingdescription, and while I have herein shown and described one specificform of the invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except forsuch limitations as the claims may import.

I claimz- 1. In an air cleaner, an annular housing having a bottomportion adapted to contain an -air cleaning liquid, a cylindricalcartridge shell in said housing and of reduced diameter with respectthereto to form therewith an annular air ingress passage leading towardthe liquid, the interior of said shell forming a conduit for egressing-cleaned air andv said shell having a lower air Velocity controllingedge, the lower portion of said housing converging and coacting withsaid edge to increase or decrease the Velocity of the air .dependentupon the position of said shell, an air cleaning cartridge in said shellfor cleaning the air egressing through said conduit, and means forholding said shell in relatively different positions of adjustment withrespect to said housing.

2. In an air cleaner, an outer housing member having a bottom portionadapted to contain an air Icleaning liquid, an inner shell memberforming With said housing member an annular air ingress passage. leadingtoward the liquid and said shell member having a lower air controllingedge about and under which the ingressing air is adapted to fiow andcoact With the liquid and pass upwardly in said shell member, an airtreating means in said shell member in the path of the egressing airtherein, said shell and housing members having different cross sectionalshapes with respect to each other, and means for holding said members inrelatively different positions of adjustment to increase or decrease theVelocity of the ingressing air responsive to suction Variation.

3. An air cleaner including telescoped housing and shell members, and abracketed supporting frame comprising outer and inner ring means forsup-porting said housing and shell members, respectively.

4. An air cleaner including telescoped housing 5 and shell members, anda supporting frame having an outer ring for said housing member, meansfor securing said housing member to said ring, an inner ring for saidframe, embracing said shell member, and means for clamping said innerring 10 about said shell member to hold the. latter in adjusted relationto said housing member.

5. In an air cleaner, telescoped housing and shell members forming acycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough, one of said members 15having a portion adapted to contain an air cleaning medium in the pathof the air traversing said cycle, said members having different contoursadjacent said medium, and means for holding said members in differentpositions of relative adjust- 20 ment to cause said different contoursto increase or decrease air Velocity near said medium responsive tosuction Variation.

6. In an air cleaner, telescoped housing and shell members fo-rming acycle for air to ingress 25 and egress therethrough, one of said membershaving a portion adapted to contain an air cleaning medium in the pathof the air traversing said cycle, said members having different contoursadjacent said medium, supporting means rigidly 30 holding one of saidmembers and friction-ally holding the other of .said members indifferent positions of relative adjustment to cause said differentcontours to increase or decrease air velocity near said mediumresponsive to suction va- 15 riation.

7. In an air cleaner, an open top one piece housing member adapted tocontain an air cleaning liquid in the bottom thereof, a shell member intelescoped relation in said housing member 40 and forming therewith acycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough in coaction with saidliquid, means for supporting said shell member in different adjustedpositions with respect to said liquid, and means for detaohablysupporting said housing member to permit removal thereof independentlyof said shell member.

8. In an air cleaner, a housing member adapted to contain an aircleaning liquid in the bottom thereof, a shell member having a cartridgeand disposed in telescoped relation in said housing member and formingtherewith a cycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough in coactionwith said liquid, means for supporting said shell member to permit thelatter to be removed independently of said housing member to clean saidcartrdge, and means detachably supporting said housing member to permitremoval of the latter independently of said shell member.

9. An air cleaner including telescoped housing and shell members forminga cycle for air ingress and egress therethrough in coaction with an aircleaning liquid in said housing member, a supporting frame comprisingouter and inner rings united by connecting arms, means for contractingsaid inner ring about said shell member to frictionally support thelatter in different positions of adjustment with respect to said housingmember and cause the air to coact with said liquid, and means forsupporting said housing member in said outer ring and anchoring saidhousing member against said connectng arms.

ROBERT E. DE BOLT.

